Ocracoke Island / Coastal NC in August 2026
2 Weeks in Wilmington, NC | Day Trip to Ocracoke Island | 1 Week in Southport, NC | August 2026
This summer, we spent 3 weeks in North Carolina for Curtis’ work. The first two were for training and office work in Wilmington, and the third was at a plant in Southport. It had been a year since we’d been in Wilmington together, and 6 months since Southport, and despite these places not being our idea of an ideal August travel destination, we found ways to enjoy our time here. For the first two weeks, Curtis worked 8 hour days, and we enjoyed the hotel where we stayed because of its delicious breakfasts and its location in a walkable area with plenty of restaurants. We returned to our favorite poke restaurant in the continental US, Pipeline Poke, the most out of every restaurant, but also enjoyed our other favorite regular spots.
The best part was that we also had two weekends free to do whatever we wanted. On our first Saturday, we were very ambitious with our plans. We had one county on the coast left to get – Hyde county, which was accessible by both car and by ferry by way of Ocracoke Island. In the spirit of adventure (and somehow believing it to be the faster/easier way), we decided to take the ferry to Ocracoke Island as a fun little day trip. We knew from past experience that we needed to book tickets in advance, which we did earlier this summer when we knew for sure we’d be here this weekend. It wasn’t until the night before our trip that we really comprehended what we had actually signed up for: we had a nearly 3 hour drive to reach the Cedar Island Ferry, and the ferry ride would be 2 hours long…which meant we were going to be traveling 10 hours round trip in one day for just ONE NEW COUNTY!!
We couldn’t believe we hadn’t realized this earlier, and all we could do was laugh at ourselves for what we’d unwittingly committed to. But there was no moment when we wondered if we should still do this trip, because we sure weren’t going to waste the $30 we spent on ferry tickets! Besides, we had a rental car so it wasn’t like we were putting these extra miles on the van, and we had our food per diem that would let us get whatever road trip snacks we needed to be happy. It would be a long day, but we knew that somehow we’d make the most of it and enjoy the adventure along the way, as we always do.
The next morning, we were up at 5 and on the road shortly thereafter. With plenty of snacks, caffeinated beverages, and a couple of audiobooks downloaded, we were off, driving three hours to Cedar Island. At least the traffic wasn’t bad this early in the morning, and we made good time on our drive. When we arrived at the ferry terminal (almost an hour early, as was supposedly required), we wandered around the parking area and visitor center along with everyone else waiting and tried to stay cool in the direct sun and sweltering humidity. Finally, the ferry arrived and it was time to board. We gathered what snacks and entertainment we wanted from the car, then walked upstairs to the deck to enjoy our 2 hour long ferry ride.
Once on the water, and sitting on the shadier side of the boat, it was comfortable enough to sit outside and enjoy the views as we departed from Cedar Island. Eventually everything started to look the same, so we turned to our books to keep us entertained for most of the ride. As we were finally nearing Ocracoke Island, we moved to the front of the boat to take in the first views of the island. Finally, we returned to the car and waited our turn to get off the boat. It was now just after noon, and we had about 3 1/2 hours before we needed to be back in line for our return ferry.
We decided to begin our time on the island by driving all the way to the Northernmost part and walk along the beach. There’s another ferry at the North end that takes you to Hatteras, and this ferry is free and doesn’t require prior reservations, but we decided there was likely no way we would have enough time to also ride this ferry back and forth, do everything we wanted on both Hatteras and Ocracoke, and make it back to the other ferry terminal in time, so we were content with doing whatever we could on Ocracoke. We walked on the beach for about a mile, admiring the dunes and the waves — this was our first trip to the beach after being back on the coast, and the first time we’d seen the Atlantic since we were in Portugal almost 2 months prior.
On our way back to the main town, we made a few other stops. First we stopped to see the Pony Pen, where all the ponies were gathered as far away from the viewing platform as they could possibly be. Next, we drove to see the Ocracoke Lighthouse, which was closed, but still cool to see since it’s the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in North Carolina and the second oldest in the US! It’s not the cutest as far as lighthouses go, but it has a very long history as you can imagine.
After that, we decided to drive back to the ferry loading area, leave the car, and explore the rest of the spots we wanted to see by foot. We started at the Ocracoke Island Discovery Center, where we got our national park stamps and chatted with the ranger, and lingered in the AC while we read through the museum exhibits. One thing we found interesting is that being out here on this little island, their main concern isn’t about hurricanes coming from the ocean, but rather from flooding that comes from the Pamlico Sound which almost all of North Carolina drains into.
Next, we hopped on the back of a little cart that offers free transportation around the town, and rode it a ways through town while looking for a place to eat. It was a little surprising how many places weren’t open — sure it was a few hours after typical lunch time, but this is a vacation destination on a Saturday afternoon, surely it shouldn’t be this hard? We ended up at a Thai restaurant where we ended up waiting a little longer than we felt comfortable, but at least we had ordered our food to go so after some fast paced walking back to the car, we made it with a little time to spare before boarding the ferry.
We enjoyed our late lunch/early dinner on the boat, then relaxed and read our books for the remainder of our ride. We made it back to Cedar Island right before sunset, and began our 3 hour drive back to Wilmington. We had to make a stop on our way at Sonic for some sweet treats to help us power through the last hour, but we finally made it back to our hotel at around 10pm, and immediately went to bed. Our very long day trip was a success! What we learned from our trip: always check distances before committing to a trip, and how long a ferry ride actually is. But now we only have two more counties to finish North Carolina, and since this trip is long behind us, we can say it was worth it!
The next day, we took it easy, but eventually decided to get out and do something with our day just to feel like we made the most of it. We drove an hour to Moores Creek National Battlefield, a place that we hadn’t visited since our first trip to Wilmington with this job almost 4 years ago. The day we had visited this site, we also went to Fort Anderson State Historic Site AND Oak Island, which today seemed like an awful lot of driving…but we’re one to talk after what we had just done the day before. I guess some things never change. I will say, visiting in November is a much better experience if you want to enjoy walking the trails outside, but today we decided we could tolerate the heat for a short walk, since we had been in the car so much. Unfortunately, we had neglected to do research ahead of time, so we failed at the main reason we returned here: the park visitor center is closed on Sundays, so we were unable to get the 250 stamp! What’s even worse is that we could have visited here last February on the actual 250th anniversary of the events that took place here, but we just didn’t! (Sure, it was mostly because of work, but if he really wanted to Curtis probably could’ve taken the day off) Also we could have come back the following Saturday when the park was open, but we just didn’t.
That failure aside, the rest of our time in Wilmington went by quickly, and before we knew it, it was time to pack up and move an hour South to Southport for our last week. We’ve come to the conclusion that we enjoy being in Wilmington (especially the area where we stay) more than Southport, and it was hard to not make all the comparisons when the memories of two great weeks were fresh in our minds. But we still made the most of our time here, eating at some of our favorite local places, trying a few new ones, and going for walks in downtown Southport and on Oak Island beach. The best new find we had here was Celtic Creamery, where we returned multiple times and enjoyed several different delicious flavors of ice cream.
Curtis’ work days were slightly longer, but the week passed quickly, and soon it was finally time to leave the North Carolina coast, perhaps for the last time this year. We were thankful for three good weeks spent here, and even more excited to move back into the van, just as we expected!
